Forums Forums Enthusiast Forums A - Z Food How Come Food Can't Be Re-frosted?

Ive been doing this for years, re-freezing food etc after its been in the car too long, or iv had it in the fridge etc, and im generally one of the healthiest people around (other than my silly lips lol) bar congenital conditions, which don't actually affect me.

So why does all food say once defrosted/thawed, it should not be frozen again.

I understand the logic behind the rule for meat and fish, but pastry and vegetables I can't work out.

Having said that though, it would'nt be the first time id re-frozen meat products, in fact I have done it quite a lot over the years.

Should I be dead by now? Or is this just another "red tape" rule, the same as BBE dates and Use By dates, where the chances are so low of it affecting you in any way, its not even worth thinking about, they just say it so they can't be held liable/to be arses.

Because when its refrozen then heated, more moisture is lost and generally makes things taste different to how they 'should' be eaten/enjoyed

So its not generally unsafe then? This is what people suggest when I have asked in the past.

Cheers!

Germs in frozen food are dorment not dead. So you defrost it and they multiply over time esp in room temp. Freeze again- more dormant germs
Defrost again-lots more germs to multiply.

So my body is immune to germs then?

How about if the food is very well cooked (I never undercook anything), does this minimise the risk?

Prob minimises it a bit. As you say its on packaging to protect manufacturs arses.
Imagine tho takin home quiches from a buffet (leftovers).
Cooked-frozen-defrosted-left to sweat in a room for 5-6 hours- rescued-refrozen-defrosted. Its gotta be minging, even if it tastes ok?!

Different bacteria multiply at different temperatures, there is a particular band around 5C to 10C that some real nasties can multiply at an alarming rate. The more time the food spends in this temperature band the higher the risk.

If you are lucky the bacteria aren't there to multiply, but if they are there, even in extremely small quantities then there is a major risk of firing in all directions if they are given conditions that allow them to multiply significantly.

The reason for the temperature band is sometimes due to the balance between different bacteria where there is a predator/prey balance. Change the growth rate of one and the self-controlled balance stops working, permitting the growth of the prey bacteria.